Judge, chief threatened

Bail set at $250,000 for suspect

A Stroudsburg man is sitting in jail in lieu of $250,000 bail after allegedly threatening the lives of a Carbon County judge, a chief of police, and the family of the police chief.

William Campbell, 51, of Elm Street, was arraigned yesterday on the charges before District Judge Casimir Kosciolek of Lansford.

He has been charged by patrolman Timothy Wuttke of the Nesquehoning Police Department with two counts of terroristic threats with intent to terrorize another and one count of retaliation against prosecutor or judicial official, the latter being a felony.

A preliminary hearing before Kosciolek is scheduled for Aug. 22.

Campbell allegedly had made threats against Carbon County Senior Judge Richard Webb, Nesquehoning Chief of Police Sean Smith, and the family of Smith.

The charges were filed after Wuttke heard a message that Campbell allegedly left on the answering machine of the Nesquehoning Police Department.

The message, directed to the police chief, stated, "Yeah, this is Bill Campbell, this is a message for Sean Smith. Sean Smith, my buddy, just calling to let you know something. OK. I'm calling to let you know I'll probably be dead within a month. OK. But I'm calling to let you know how lucky you are that you're still alive."

The message goes on to say that he "was gonna take out you or take out your wife and kids to let you see what it's like to go without."

It adds that he also is giving Judge Webb another chance at life.

Wuttke says in the affidavit that he called Campbell, who informed him that he had planned on killing both Judge Webb and Chief Smith, and "he wanted to let (them) know how lucky they are to be alive."

"I asked what he meant by this and he said that it means exactly what it says; that he was going to kill both Chief Smith and Judge Webb and he wants to let them know that he is giving them life," wrote Wuttke in the affidavit. "Campbell then said he is not threatening them but has been planning to and thinking about killing Chief Smith and Judge Webb for two years now and has decided to let them live."

Campbell also referenced, in the phone conversation with Wuttke, a PFA (protection from abuse) violation that Webb and Smith had been handled.

Wuttke said when he asked Campbell what he meant by not being alive in a month, Campbell hung-up on him.